Wire clamp



June 30, 1936.

w. G. FoTscH WIRE CLAMP Patented `lune 30, i936 NETE@ attain WIRE CLAMP 'William G. Fotsch, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Reliable Electric Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation ci illinois Application December 3, 1934, serial No. 755,790

1 claim. (cl. 173-263) This invention relates to wire clamps and has for its principal purpose the provision of a clamp of this character which can be utilized to clamp two wires together either stranded or not stranded in such fashion as to make a good electrical contact and a strong mechanical connection.

More specifically the invention contemplates the provision of a two piece clamp consisting of a U-shaped member having aligned openings in the legs thereof to receive the wires to be clamped and a screw or clamping member engaging the wires in such fashion as to prevent lateral escape of the strands.

Other and more specific objects and advantages 15,l of the invention will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein the preferred form of. the invention is shown. It is to be understood, however, that the description and drawing are illustrative only and not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claim.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the clamp as applied to the connection of two wires; f

Fig. 2'is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom view looking upward at the clamp as it is shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, my

improved clamp consists of a. U-shaped member 5 having the base portion 6 reenforced by the flange 1 and provided with a screw threaded aperture at 8 to receive the set screw.9.

The U-shaped member 5 has the opposed paral- 86 lel portions Ill and ll provided with elongated apertures as shown more clearly at l2 in Fig. 2 for receiving the conductors or wires such as I3 and I4. Each of the legs l0 and il has formed thereon the lateral flanges l 5 and l 6 which flanges 40 are extended toward each other a substantial distance from the legs l0 and ll so as to make the gap therebetween less than the diameter of the set screw 9 or at most, at least as small asthe diameter of the set screw 8.

There is another relation between the set screw 9 and the members I5 and i6 which is also of. importance and that is that the width of the opening l2 is preferably substantially the diameter of the set screw 9. Therefore, if a wire is clamped 5 down against the anges l5 and I6, there is no chance for lateral escape of stranded wires, for example by spreading. This is because of the factthat the space in which the wires may spread under pressure is smaller than the diameter of 10 the screw which furnishes the pressure.

Furthermore, this construction while permitting a slight bending of the wires at the center to give a vstrong mechanical hold or grip of one wire upon the other also provides long surface 15 contacts or support of the wires by means of the legs I0 and il and their iianges I5 and I6 thus making a good electrical joint as well as a strong mechanical joint.

From the above description, it is believed that 20 the construction and advantages of this device will be clear to those skilled in this art.

Having thus described one specific form of. my invention what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 25

A two piece clamp comprising a. U -shaped member having aligned elongated slots running lengthwise in the legs of said member to receive the wires to be clamped and to positionthem substantially in parallelism, a clamping screw thread- 3o ed through the base for pressing together the wires threaded through said slots, and means on the legs to provide side support for said wires when they are clamped together, said means comprising U-shaped ilanges at the edges of said elongated slots and projecting inwardly toward each other from said legs and spaced apart a distance less than. the diameter of said screw, the diameter of said screw being at least equal to the width of said slots whereby to prevent lateral escape ofsaid wires when they are pressed together by said screw.

WILLIAM o. ForscH. 

